The Lewistown Indians defeated the Pittsfield Saukees in the Native American inspired 5th place semifinal by a count of 47-43. John Ross Hess of Lewistown scored a tournament-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting to pace his Indians squad. Lewistown started strong, leading 12-4 at the end of the first quarter (and eventually 17-6), but Pittsfield ended the second quarter on an 11-0 run to bring the score to a 17-17 tie. The second half saw three lead changes hands and was close until the final buzzer.
Pittsfield had more points in the paint (22-16), points off turnovers (17-8), and even second chance points (14-8)…but it was too much John Ross Hess in this one. Lewistown shot 8-of-20 from behind the 3-point arc, including 5-for-10 for Hess. The teams combined for a ridiculous 40 3-point attempts in this game.
As mentioned, John Ross Hess now has the tournament-high with 29 points. Cole Beekman joined him in double figures with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Blayne Clary crashed the glass for an additional six rebounds.
The Saukees were led by a duo of double-digit scorers in Carter Klatt (11) and Bobby Stout (10). Keller Personett and TJ Reel both had a team-high six rebounds. Pittsfield was doomed by the 3-point shot…where they were a disappointing 3-for-20.
Lewistown advances to play Rockridge in the 5th place trophy game, played as Game 24. That game will be held at 6:30pm later tonight. Pittsfield has been eliminated.
Box Score
Pittsfield Info
Lewistown Info
Chris Derry
December 29, 2021
